In February 2021 an unexpected news broke: Julio José Iglesias, the second son of Julio Iglesias and Isabel Preysler, was divorcing his wife, the model Charisse Verhaert, after 16 years together, eight of them married. The truth is that the couple had started the separation procedures more than six months before, in August 2020, but the news took more than half a year to come to light.

From Miami, where he has lived for more than two decades, Iglesias resolved his divorce a few weeks later. A lawsuit where, it was learned, Verhaert demanded half of his house (valued at about 700,000 euros, according to knowledgeable sources), as well as a pension of 7,500 euros per month. Nine months after that, Iglesias assures that the demands were not such. “That was something of the lawyers, who usually make this type of requests in divorce proceedings,” he said in the magazine Hello! “I assure you that Charisse and I are friends and there has never been a problem with the distribution of assets. When it was published, I did not like it because it did not correspond to our reality. It was a lie, but we chose not to say anything. “

Although Julio José and Charisse resolved a divorce a little over half a year ago, in April 2021, little is known about the terms they reached in that Miami Dade court. This has been the first interview that the singer has given to talk about his breakup and everything that surrounds her.

The already ex-partner met almost 20 years ago. They started dating in 2004 and got married in Madrid in 2012, in a big wedding on Carlos Falcó’s farm in Aldea del Fresno and with an exclusive in between, some photos for which it was managed that 500,000 euros had been paid. Iglesias affirms that their union continues to be strong, that they continue to maintain “a lot of union”. “We were not just a couple, there was friendship, complicity. So, obviously, it’s hard to start over, “he says, explaining that they get along” very well “and that” every day “they talk on the phone. “If we wanted to be happy, we couldn’t stay together. The couple’s love was over. There was love, friendship … and we keep that. Charisse is my best friend “, she affirms emphatically, assuring that the divorce was” a pure procedure “

The singer says – who claims to be about to release a new album and who gives more than 30 concerts a year – that their relationship has been broken due to lack of passion and distance. “The ideal partner does not exist”, laughs in the interview published by the well-known magazine. “What separated us was the distance. In reality, we have not had much coexistence. For the last five years, Charisse has been in Belgium a lot, with her mother, and I traveling for my work. The physical separation has hurt our relationship. And love, instead of going up, has gone down. At one point we realized that we were more friends than partners. When that happens, you can do two things: stay as you are or step forward. And that’s what we have done, get divorced ”. He also affirms that there have never been third parties: “Not at all. The love of a couple is over. There was no more passion. The distance put an end to that ”.

To overcome the break, Iglesias, 48, has relied on his family: “Enrique, Chábeli and my parents.” “Everyone has stressed that nothing happens, that the world is not ending and that the important thing is that we continue to maintain affection and respect. My father told me: ‘People get divorced, it is part of life.’ In fact, he affirms that in a pandemic he has had “a lot of contact” with his father, who is living in the Bahamas, dedicating himself “to his business and leading a quiet life in the Bahamas.”

According to Julio José himself —probably the most accessible son of Julio Iglesias—, the relationship with his father is excellent and was consolidated in a special way five years ago, when they toured together. “My brothers and I grew up with my mother, we did not grow up with my father. So being able to travel with him, spend time with him, eat with him, it was wonderful, ”he once recounted.